Sharing Christ Team Training Guide ChristLife, Inc., 600 Cooks Lane Baltimore, MD

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2 Sharing Christ Team Training Guide 2018 ChristLife, Inc., 600 Cooks Lane Baltimore, MD

3 Example Sharing Christ Team Training Schedule The training can be run in one morning or over a couple evening sessions. It is important to include times of prayer and discussion to fruitfully train your team. Here is an example schedule for a morning. 8:45 Refreshments and fellowship 9:00 Introduction to the training Prayer and worship 9:30 Watch Overview and Dynamics 10:30 Table discussion about the 1 st talk, break 11:00 Watch Being Missionary Disciples Pray together as a team for grace to become missionary disciples 11:45 Team planning time: assigning roles, reviewing schedules, small group organization, hospitality, registration, etc. Closing prayer and intercession for the course 12:30 Conclude with lunch 3

4 1. The Call of all the Baptized Sharing Christ: Overview and Dynamics Speaker: Dianne Davis The Church's mission is concerned with the salvation of men; and men win salvation through the grace of Christ and faith in him. The apostolate of the Church therefore, and of each of its members, aims primarily at announcing to the world by word and action the message of Christ and communicating to it the grace of Christ. The true apostle is on the look-out for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers to draw them towards the faith, or to the faithful to instruct them, strengthen them, incite them to a more fervent life. The Apostolate of the Laity, 6, Vatican II 2. Personal Relationship with Jesus Before being sent to evangelize, they would have to "be" with Jesus (cf. Mark 3:14), establishing a personal relationship with him. With this foundation, evangelization is no more than a proclamation of what has been experienced and an invitation to enter into the mystery of communion with Christ. - Pope Benedict XVI, March 22, Overall Structure a. Seven weekly sessions. Each session includes: i. Prayer and Worship ii. Testimony iii. DVD Teaching iv. Small Group Discussion v. Fellowship b. Weekly Step into the Mission activities 4. Session Schedule and Topics Session Talk Topic Session 1 Talk 1 Called to Share Christ Session 2 Talk 2 Befriending Others Session 3 Talk 3 Sharing your Story Session 4 Talk 4 The Power to Share Christ Session 5 Talk 5 Presenting the Good News Session 6 Talk 6 Inviting Others to Meet Jesus Retreat Talk 7 Put Out into the Deep for a Catch (Retreat) 4

5 5. Session Walkthrough a. Session 1 b. Session 2 c. Session 3 d. Session 4 e. Session 5 f. Session 6 i. Called to Share Christ: Presents the goals of the course and the essential mission of the Church. ii. Step into the Mission: Prayer and Action List i. Befriending Others: To understand that friendship is a key to effective evangelization. ii. Step into the Mission: Reflection exercise i. Sharing your Story: To recognize and learn to share ways God has worked in your life. ii. Step into the Mission: Write a 3 minute version of your story. i. The Power to Share Christ: To understand the importance of the Holy Spirit in Sharing Christ. ii. Step into the Mission: Holy Spirit prayer i. Presenting the Good News: Teaches the four truths of the Gospel and a simple way to present them. ii. Practical Application: Practice the Bridge Illustration. i. Inviting Others to Meet Jesus: Explains how to invite people to evangelizing events and the prayer of commitment. ii. Practical Application: Practice prayer of commitment g. Session 7: Retreat - Put Out into the Deep for a Catch 6. Commissioning i. Morning Session: Extra time for prayer and reflection, improving and sharing their stories, and reviewing the Bridge illustration and prayer of commitment. ii. Afternoon Session: Watch final session on the Lord s vision for evangelization, from Luke 5 and the story of St. Juan Diego. After group discussion participants prepare and share their cardboard testimonies. a. After completing the ChristLife series, participants are commissioned at Mass. b. It is ideal for this to be done during a Mass that includes the parish community, not one limited to course participants. 5

6 a. A sample Commissioning Prayer is available at under Free Resources. 7. Planning the Course a. For the greatest benefit, begin planning Sharing Christ months in advance. b. Strategically plan the entire ChristLife series. c. This course will change lives if it is approached with the right effort and belief that the Lord is the One who wants to equip us to evangelize! 8. Team Members a. Key positions carry over from Following Christ. 9. Small Group Leadership a. Small group coordinator organizes pre-meeting with facilitators and helpers b. Facilitators should be leading by example and encouraging weekly Step into the Mission assignments. c. Small group guidelines and suggestions in Sharing Christ How to Run the Course Guide (pp ). 10. Next Steps a. Sharing Christ is not an end in itself. In fact, it is just the beginning! Link to evangelizing and serving on the ChristLife courses. b. Evangelizing: welcoming attitude in Mass and other parish events. c. In order to sustain the mission, it is critical for ongoing re-unions or interaction to keep evangelizing. 6

7 Being Missionary Disciples: The Goal of the ChristLife Process 1. What are we aiming at? - Being missionary disciples of Jesus a. Jesus great commandment and commission i. And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. - Matthew 22:37-39 ii. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. - Matthew 28:18-20 b. The two universal callings of Jesus to all the baptized: holiness and evangelization. i.e., the command to be missionary disciples. (see Joy of the Gospel, 120,121) 2. Isolating the problem Much of the Christian church today, believes you can be a Christian without being a disciple. a. For the early church being a disciple was a condition for being a Christian 3. What s a disciple? - Someone who wants to be like their Master (Romans 8:29). a. A learner, apprentice, a full-time student, a practitioner of Jesus teaching b. Having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program just letting his disciples follow him... Jesus had no formal school, no seminaries, no outlined course of study,... Amazing as it may seem, all Jesus did to teach these men his way was to draw them close to himself. He was his own school and curriculum. - Robert Coleman, Master Plan of Evangelization c. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20 d. Disciples are people who not only profess certain views about Catholicism/Christianity, but are applying the teaching of the Lord and his Church to every aspect of their life. e. People who understand the Christian life is not just activities, programs and addon s to already busy lives, but a lifestyle of following Jesus as Lord and entering his mission, his purposes. 7

8 f. To live is Christ, to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21 g. Living the joy-filled life of disciples who continuously grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. - 2 Peter 3:18 h. We need to be Christians who want to help others to become Jesus followers too (even if we are only beginners). i. The greatest need of the world today is whether we who call ourselves Christian will become disciples, learning from him together to live life in the Spirit and bring his life to all of humanity. 4. Lifestyle Christianity a. History of ChristLife s name and mission. b. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20 c. ChristLife is at the beginning point of living a life for Christ. d. For the ChristLife process to be effective, we must live the life of a disciple of Jesus. i. The Christ-Life has to be lived more and more by the team. e. The aim of the Process: to be disciples who are making disciples f. Jesus is not asking for perfection of us to begin i. Not that I have already obtained this, or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own... Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. - Phil. 3:12-13, 17 8